We arrived at the park yesterday!
We said goodbye to Wendy and Phil and her daughter Michelle yesterday at 8:30am. Thanks for having us! We'll see you at the park sometime this summer!
The drive was uneventful. On the way, we stopped in the city of Swift Current (pop 18,000) and checked things out. This is where we'll be going to do our once a week grocery shopping. It's about 45 minutes from the park.
Typical Saskatchewan along the Trans Canada highway.
We arrived at the town of Cabri (pronounced Caybree) at noon and met with a couple of people from the park's board of directors and they took us out for lunch. The town is only about 400 people, but there are some services there and it's only about 20 kms (12 miles) from the park itself.
Entrance to the town of Cabri.
Cabri, Saskatchewan.
Then, we headed out to the park. You have to drive about 20 kms (12 miles) on dirt farm roads to get there. Miles and miles of wheat fields.
This is the prairies!
The park itself is located on the South Saskatchewan River, which is actually part of Lake Diefenbaker. The lake is almost 200 kms (120 miles) long!
We are located at the tip of the green arrow. Just west of Saskatchewan Landing Provincial Park.
Coming down from the wheat fields, there are rolling hills, and then the water. It's really quite pretty!
They took us for a tour around the park. It's quite a bit different than the park we were at last year. For one thing, it's a bigger campground. There are around 125 sites, compared to last year's which was 55 sites. But the big difference is that 80 of the sites here are seasonals! And the seasonals here have to look after their own property maintenance and grass cutting.
Also, we have a full time employee who starts today as well. He's a university student, and he was here last year too, so he'll be somewhat familiar with things. Then we have another full time employee for the months of July and August.
We will be doing a lot more office type work. We're responsible for reservations and bookings and they even have a computerized reservation system. It will be a totally different work environment for us this year, and I think it's going to be a lot better than last year. Ask me again in July!
Here's where we live!
We live in an old mobile home. It's huge! It has three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a laundry room. And it has central air conditioning! We'll show you more pictures over the coming days. The building you see on the right is the office and canteen. Oh, and I have a huge maintenance garage too!
After we did the tour, Ruth and I drove the 45 minutes back to Swift Current and did a huge grocery shop ($160) and picked up some things we need for the house. It was 8:00pm by the time we arrived back at the park!
Taken at 6:30am this morning.
Notice that there is no ice or snow! We're quite a bit further south than where we were last year. If you remember last year, the ice didn't come off the lake until May 17th. Much warmer here, so far. In fact, they're calling for 21C (70F) and sunny today! Back to normal tomorrow, but we'll take it when we get it, right??!
I think it's going to be a fun five months! Stay tuned, and we'll update you every day about what life is like running a campground!
Gees, send some of that nice weather west to Winnipeg please!!
ReplyDeleteHoping this is heading east for you Janis. Today was a beautiful day but I think that we will get a reality check tomorrow, back to normal temperatures here so they say.
DeleteLove the prairies. That photo of the wheat fields just made me smile. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed them Dianne. Even though there doesn't seem to be a whole lot to look at, it still looks beautiful in it's own way.
DeleteBoy that last picture is a beauty! Sounds like a nice gig.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sherry, we are hoping for some more great shots. We remember from last year the beautiful skies we had here in Saskatchewan and we are looking forward to more of that.
DeleteBorn and raised in prairie country. I sure do love those wide open spaces.
ReplyDeleteThe vastness out here is amazing!
DeleteIt's hard to describe the Prairies to anyone who has never been there. It's a unique kind of beauty. If it's a hot day though, and you're looking for shade?? Good luck.
ReplyDeleteYou are so right there Bob and luckily we have lots of shade here, even if it doesn't look like it from the pictures above.
DeleteLooks quite different than last year but hopefully it will be a good time there. I am guessing your quarters furnished? Nice pictures.
ReplyDeleteIt is quite different from last year and yes, we are pretty sure that we will have a great summer here. Our home is furnished for the most part and they have been very good about making sure that we have what we need to be comfortable.
DeleteWe enjoyed your company see you soon
ReplyDeleteThank you again Wendy, looking forward to seeing you this summer here at the campground.
DeleteNow that sounds like a pretty good deal. Such a huge house too.
ReplyDeleteGood luck and have too much fun there.
Huge to what we are compared too! Thankfully Lindsey and the grandchildren will be coming to visit so we can make use of some of this extra space.
DeleteLooks great!! And they have that computerized reservation system you were talking about last year!!! Sounds like a good score all around!!
ReplyDeleteYep, we are going to like that. That was one of the things Kevin thought they should have had at the last campground.
DeleteMany, many, many years ago I went to 4-H camp on Lake Diefenbaker a couple of times. Pretty area.
ReplyDeleteWe are hoping that we will get a little bit of time to check some of the lake out.
DeleteAre there rattlesnakes at the park? I know they are around Swift, you might want to ask about that.
ReplyDeleteWe were actually talking about that this morning. They haven't had any here in the park yet but they have heard reports that they have been spotted in areas that are starting to get closer to us.
DeleteWhat are you going to do with all that living space? You always travel so light!
ReplyDeleteWell it will be put to use when Lindsey and the kids get here at the beginning of June, other than that it will pretty much just be wasted space. Do you want to come over for a visit this summer, we have lots of rooom?
DeleteDo you have bushels and bushels of dead leaves to rake, like last spring?
ReplyDeleteThere are tons of leaves but the mulch most of them! :-)
DeleteNice temps for swimming! Surprised you didn't take a dip... :c)
ReplyDeleteWe hardly went swimming in Mexico and it was hot there, I think the chances of us swimming here will be pretty low.
DeleteLove your new digs! Have fun!!
ReplyDeleteThe lake looks gorgeous - like glass. Looks very peaceful there. Your mega grocery shopping sounds like ours, when we arrive in a new place for a "spell". Fun!
ReplyDeleteYou have to expect a big one when you first arrive somewhere without any supplies. I expect that the next one will be a big one too, after that we should start to be a little more regular.
DeleteHope you don't have to work as hard as last year! Rattlesnakes!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteThere will still be lots of work but it shouldn't be quite as hard. Yes, there is a possibility of rattlesnakes but they haven't had any in this campground yet at least not that they know of.
DeleteWell, it looks good. I didn't know you'd be at a different park; hope it's not as much work as last year's park. I'm happy to follow along on this next adventure.
ReplyDeleteIt is a nice park and a pretty location. There will still be lots of work to do but it shouldn't be as hard as the last place plus there will be a lot more office work involved at this location.
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